Hope you all had a Merry Christmas yesterday! C. has been sick for the past week, so we had a low-key day at home by ourselves, filled with tons of food and holiday movies.

Table runner: World Market; Hurricane lamps: Target; Copper string lights: Restoration Hardware

Since moving to the Bay Area six years ago, and with most of our family still in the Midwest, we've forged our own holiday traditions. Most are quite different from what we did growing up, so it's been fun to decide what we think is the most fun and just do that!

Starting with Christmas Eve, we go see A Christmas Carol in San Francisco, followed by a bit of last minute shopping. At night, we usually attempt to find a good Christmas service to attend (surprisingly difficult; we haven't found one worth repeating yet), wrap all our presents and finally put them under the tree (since Mugsy the Pug has been terrible about getting into them earlier), and then start the cinnamon rolls for the next morning.


I've been making these cinnamon rolls (adapted from the original recipe from Pioneer Woman) for the past five years, pairing them with champagne for a huge dose of comfort food and fabulousness. Each time they improve just a bit, but we've learned they can lead to sugar overload and need to be balanced with something savory, so this year accompanied them with steak and eggs. Thanks to C., who was the one who made our table so pretty!


If you had the chance to create new traditions for your family holiday, what would you do?